Every human being has approximately 3 million sweat glands. In order to regulate the temperature of the body, these glands produce 1 litre of sweat / day on average and as much as 4l in the summer in hot weather. A sportsman can lose up to 2 litres... in 1 hour!!
The body needs to compensate for this loss by drinking water and taking in substances such as sodium and potassium. It is advisable to drink at least 1l of water a day and more if it is hot.

After physical exercise, it is preferable to drink slightly salty water or an “energy sport” drink in order to rebuild part of the body's energy levels.

During exercise drinking also helps to keep the increase in body temperature under control.

Our skin has its very own ecosystem. There are up to 200 species of different bacteria on our hands alone. The acidity and hydration of our skin is governed by our genes. This creates a specific group of bacteria which produces a particular combination of molecules. This gives everyone their own unique sweat odour.

When sweat is secreted, it is odourless. It contains organic waste matter and toxins which bacteria living on the surface of the skin feed on. The bad and sometimes unpleasant odours come from their excreta.

So, these odours are most noticeable where we sweat the most and where there are the most bacteria: the feet, the armpits and the groin area…

This is why Equarea control fits some t-shirts with yokes in strategic places such as underarms which limit the development of unpleasant odours.

Depending on factors such as age, where you live and genes, everyone perspires differently. However, we are all born with around the same number of sweat glands.

Only the eccrine glands are active at birth. These are found all over the body (palms of the hands, arch of the foot, forehead…). These glands secrete a watery solution on the skin's surface. As well as regulating body temperature, they moisturise the skin and have an immunising role. More information about the composition of sweat

Apocrine glands become active at puberty. They have a hormonal operation. They are found in the armpits, around the anus, and around nipples. Sweat secreted by these glands contains pheromones.

With age, sweat glands lose their efficiency. This is why older people are more susceptible in very hot weather.

How can you get yourself a technical kit, adapted to your sports use, without breaking the bank? "Blue products" are priced affordably but don't compromise on quality.

Equarea has labelled some blue products to guarantee active moisture management.
 
And whatsmore, Equarea brings additional technologies, depending on the use::
- Flatseam or seamless assembly to prevent chafing
- Flexible fabric for ease of movement
- Equarea Control to limit perspiration odours
- Resistance to wear where your backpack rubs
- Mesh inserts on high perspiration zones for improved ventilation
-…

Do you know what's in your sweat? Well, water mostly! Our bodies generate perspiration to cool down when it gets too warm, and water's a great solution for this.
Perspiration contains approx 99% water, but also minerals (sodium), chlorine and fats. It's when these elements broken down by bacteria present naturally on the skin that perspiration develops an odour.
Each person's sweat has a distinct composition. And for all of us, our sweat also changes depending on what we eat, on the source of increased body temperature (sport, stress, sauna…), and on our general state of being.
Perspiration can also contain traces of zinc, copper, iron, chrome, nickel and even lead… it's a real mineral mine!

Check out EQUAREA CONTROL, a range of technologies to manage perspiration and odours

These technical textiles actively wick perspiration to the outside of your garments, and dry fast.

These textiles use fibres that capture the main odour-producing components in perspiration. The molecules responsible for odours are trapped, lessening their effect.

The fibres release these molecules when washed, and they are rinsed away.

"3,000 km on foot and more than 12,000 km by bus through the Himalayan villages and mountains. Walking, walking, up hill and down dale, again and again… Every morning, pulling a heavy pack onto our shoulders and struggling, adoring, laughing, crying, admiring, loving…. We lived through so much this year, so many experiences and encounters."

Maud Ramaen, from the blog: www.parlerdelles.over-blog.com. It's the story of an incredible adventure, a story of people and sport. During their travels, they tested Novadry, Stratermic and Equarea-labelled products.

Layer your garments to suit the weather and the effort you’re putting in.
Too hot? Remove a layer ?
Feeling cold ? Add 3 more…

Guide:
                               EQUAREA STRATERMIC NOVADRY
Warm and dry                x  
Cold and dry                  x                      x 
Warm and rainy              x                                             x
Cold and rainy                x                      x                     x

EQUAREA: breathable layer worn close to the skin ; wicks away perspiration and keeps your body dry.
STRATERMIC : insulates from the cold and retains heat.
NOVADRY : protects from rain and wind.

After effort, fatigue and cold increase your chances of catching a chill. Don’t forget to cover up!

In the winter it’s even more important to:
- WARM UP to avoid injuries to muscles, tendons and ligaments stiffened by the cold.
- COVER UP EXTREMITIES that are more sensitive to the cold : gloves, hat or headband to lower the risk of sinusitis.
- DRINK, even if you don’t feel thirsty, to compensate for water loss.
- COVER up after sport to avoid catching a chill.

You can also:
- Go out as a group to stay motivated.
- Do your sport in the daytime in light and less damp conditions.
- Wear reflective garments for visibility.
- Use cream to moisturise your skin

Because it generates endorphins, sport will boost your spirits and it’s a great remedy for winter blues!

Our bodies are ingenious… They regulate warmth constantly to stay at 37°C.

Did you know that shivering is a mechanism the body uses to warm up? Shivers = muscle contractions = warmth.

During any activity, muscles produce energy. This raises the body's core temperature. To evacuate this excess heat, perspiration kicks in.

In the winter, our bodies take longer to warm up during sport. We still sweat, but with a time delay. Sport during cold weather needs more energy, so you tire faster.

Equarea breathable T-shirts actively wick away perspiration. Your body stays dry, doesn't chill, and thermo-regulates freely.

Of course not. Men and women perspire. However, there are some differences.

Briefly:

1) For the same temperature and activity levels, women perspire less, even though they have lots of exocrine (sweat) glands.

2) Women start to sweat at higher temperatures (internal and skin).

Why?

The mechanisms in the body that regulate temperature are different:
- For women, body temperature is regulated mainly by redistributing blood flow to the surface of the skin, thus dispersing heat.
- For men, sweating is the main method for regulating temperature.

Body hair doesn't create sweating.
However, when you do sweat, body hair traps this sweat. This in part is how odours develop.

Sweat contains mineral salts, and is naturally odourless. An odour develops as the sweat is broken down by bacteria on your skin.

By trapping and retaining sweat, body hair increases this break down.

Answer:
It's not the actual sweating that brings on fatigue. However, the consequences of perspiration can reduce your performance.

Why?
When you sweat, you become dehydrated. But water is a constituent of blood, the source of your muscles' energy.
When the quantity of water in your body falls, so does the quantity of blood.
So there's a risk that less oxygen is transported by your blood to your muscles. This is why your performance drops off.

In concrete terms:
If you exercise in a warm environment (above 30°C), losing 2% of your body weight through dehydration can mean a drop in performance. You tend to sweat less in a cooler environment, so the phenomenon is less pronounced.

Dehydration, which can be caused by perspiration, is what makes you feel tired.
So the solution is simple: to cut down your fatigue, drink before you feel thirsty!

Ideally, the quantity of fluids you drink should be similar to the amount of sweat you produce, to compensate for all fluid loss.
Drinking after sport is also essential to help your recovery.

Tips:

=> For an energy boost, add sugar to your drink.
=> When you sweat, you also lose sodium (salt). This is why sweat has a salty taste. By drinking a salty drink, you compensate for the loss of sodium, which is essential to maintain hydric balance.

Sweating means water loss... but not fat loss!

"But when I sweat, I feel lighter!"

When you lose water, you lose weight temporarily.
But your body needs water to stay hydrated. So you must drink...
The lost water weight is regained once your body is re-hydrated.

"So does sport help you slim or not?"

Regular physical activity (like endurance sport) combined with a balanced diet is the way to lose weight.
You don't need to get sweaty for your exercise to be effective.

Our bodies keep their internal temperature around 37°C to stay healthy and keep working.

During sport, your muscles generate energy:
- 25% is used in movement
- 75% is dissipated as heat

When air comes into contact with your skin, it evacuates this excess heat. Your body sends heat from your muscles out to your skin by increasing blood flow to vessels just under to the skin, to enable this heat exchange.

=> Blood vessels in your face are very close under the skin, and this is what makes athletes red in the face. Different people will redden to different extents, depending on the intensity of their sport.

Check out the new technical brand from Decathlon: STRENFIT.
The name is a combination of strength and fit.
Strenfit technologies are Light & Robust. Find the technology on sport and travel bags, where it makes them lighter, tougher and more durable.

Visit the site at www.strenfit.com

Find the answers to all your questions on the new sport equipment portal.

Check out the latest news from Oxylane Group technical brands, serving your body and your sport:
www.technology-sport.com

Reminder:
Your body sweats during effort to regulate its temperature. As sweat evaporates on contact with the air, this cools your body temperature.

In water:
1) If the water is cold: when it touches your skin, cold water helps to reduce body temperature: this is through convection. This means your body doesn't need to sweat to regulate its temperature => and you sweat less.

2) In warm water (34°C): The difference between water temperature and skin temperature is negligible. In this case, convection has no effect => your body sweats just as much as out of the water. 

=> Perspiration can't evaporate while you're in the water, and with no convection effect, core temperature can't regulate and it rises. This can affect essential organs (such as the heart and brain) and have serious consequences (heat stroke, loss of consciousness).

Equarea garments are very low-maintenance:

- Machine wash (30 to 40°C)
- Drying: tumble dry or line dry. Equarea fabrics dry very quickly.
- Ironing: no need; Equarea fabrics crease very little.

What's more, Equarea garments don't lose their shape and their perspiration wicking performance remains wash after wash.

People, like most mammals, are warm-blooded, which means their core temperature (36,5-37,5°C) remains constant whether at rest or during effort, and is independent of the ambient temperature. This is controlled by a balance between heat production and loss.

Heat production comes from food or muscular exercise. To keep body temperature constant, the body uses reflexes such as vasodilatation (widening of blood vessels) and perspiration. Vasodilatation enables the skin to cool the body slightly. When this is not enough, perspiration kicks in. It's not the actual sweating that cools skin temperature, but the evaporation of sweat.

Perspiration is essential, because it helps maintain core body temperature at a constant.

Perspiration is a natural, thermo-regulating reaction. It occurs in warm temperatures or during physical effort. It enables you to regulate your body temperature, when the body temperature increases, sweat glands are activated and create perspiration. It streams on the skin, cools the body and evaporates with air and warmth.
Most of the time, sweating means unpleasant sensations:
- Clothes are wet and stick to the body,
- Unsightly marks appear on clothes,
- Unpleasant odours appear,
- Eyes smarting,
- Skin itches, and sometimes burning and chafing sensations appear.

Nonetheless, perspiration is a healthy and necessary reaction:
- It allows body temperature to decrease,
- It helps to evacuate toxins
- It helps clean skin pores

It is also an indicator of the real effort provided, proof you're really trying hard

That's why Equarea doesn't seek to block perspiration, like anti-perspirant products, but to adapt to this healthy and natural phenomenon.

How ?
Equarea:

- Manages moisture thanks to its system that wicks away perspiration: moisture-absorption, transfer to the outside of the fabric and quick drying.
- It develops: 
   - Technologies limiting the development of unpleasant odours.
   - Soft-feel and anti-chafing components
   - "Anti-shivering" components, to avoid feeling cold after effort.

Thanks to Equarea technology, the Quechua T-shirts actively wick away perspiration. Hikers don't get damp during effort, and feel less chilled when they stop.
Because they are quick-drying, they're soon ready to be worn after washing.
Quechua T-shirts are resistant to wear, particularly rubbing from your backpack.
Some T-shirts have an anti-bacterial treatment.

Sports brands are tackling odours. Published in Metro.

After effort, you might have noticed that sweaty odours develop on some sports textiles. To reduce this, anti-bacterial technology is sometimes added to Equarea textiles. The treatment is guaranteed for 30 to 50 washes, depending on the product.

Deefuz T-shirts are made using Equarea textiles. 
Find out about the research, lab and the collection ...

Discover the new Equarea advert; a short story for hiker

The third Decathlon technical brands website is on line. After Novadry and Equarea, here comes STRATERMIC. Stratermic is the brand of thermic insulation, that brings warmth, lightness and durability to Decathlon Passion Brands sport clothes.
Stratermic adapts itself to the level of cold, from -50°c to +18°c, and to the intensity of your sport activity.

Read the article from Journal des Femmes about Equarea on internet.

The Kalenji Deefuz 1000 Equarea is here! Deefuz 1000 wicks away perspiration. Of course it is Equarea certified.

The last number of Quechua Magazine deals about Equarea. It is available in Decathlon stores.

To do your sport comfortably, choose garments that protect you from cold, rain and wind and that wick perspiration away.
To do this, you should combine several garments; according to the temperature and the intensity of your sports activity, you'll be able to take one or two layers off or to put one or two on.

For cold weather, wear a breathable Equarea garment next to your skin + an Equarea fleece (adapt the thickness or the number of fleeces to the outdoor temperature) + a waterproof and breathable Novadry jacket.

For less cold weather:
- breathable Equarea garment + Novadry jacket if it's a rainy or a windy day.
- breathable Equarea garment + windproof and breathable Stratermic fleece.
- breathable Equarea garment + windproof and breathable Stratermic Softshell jacket.

For hot weather, a breathable Equarea garment will be enough.